Finance hopes cheer builders

Staff reporter

Hong Kong stocks reversed an early decline to end 176 points higher yesterday as mainland developers surged following reports that some of them were included in a draft list for government financial support.

Bloomberg had reported that Country Garden (2007), Sino-Ocean Group (3377), China Vanke (2202), Seazen (1030) and Longfor (0960) are included in a preliminary list of 50 developers eligible for financial support through loans, debt and equity.

Following the news, Country Garden surged by 23.5 percent to HK$1.05 yesterday while Country Garden Services (6098) saw a jump of 12.1 percent to HK$8.6.

Longfor also saw a sharp rise of 13.4 percent to HK$15.6.

Meanwhile, New World Development (0017) launched a tender offer to seven holders of its US dollar bonds, aiming to repurchase the bonds and reduce its debt, with a maximum acquisition amount of US$600 million (HK$4.68 billion).

However its shares fell 4.4 percent to HK$13.3.

The Hang Seng Index advanced by 1 percent to 17,911 points and the turnover on the main board rebounded to HK$97.7 million.

In other market news, the international payment market share of the yuan in October slightly decreased from September's 3.71 percent to 3.6 percent, temporarily stepping back from its record high, according to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

Barclays anticipates short-term strength for the yuan following its recent rebound but foresees additional downside risks for the currency into the next year.